michael.ausiello

Renee's Garden of Evil

Ren&eacute;e Zellweger didn't always live the cushy life of a movie star. As the the Nurse Betty actress explains, she paid her dues before hitting it big. "I had a really crap job at the Olive Garden," she groans. "It lasted for about a day. I bet I'm not even on their computers anymore." The star of the upcoming Bridget Jones' Diary recalls that she wanted to be a waitress at the popular Italian restaurant chain but had to start as the greeter or, as Zellweger calls it, "the door person. I had to say, 'Hello, welcome to the Olive Garden,' and, "Thank you for coming to the Olive Garden.' "And there's a way to open the door," she adds. "You open it with the one hand, to let people in, and then you open it with the other hand to let people out. And I had no skin on the back of my hand by the end of the night. And I'm like, 'This isn't going to work out!' And that was the end of that." Zellweger -- who, with the help of boyfriend Jim Carrey, could

Mon, Oct 9, 2000

Renee's Garden of Evil

Ren&eacute;e Zellweger didn't always live the cushy life of a movie star. As the the Nurse Betty actress explains, she paid her dues before hitting it big. "I had a really crap job at the Olive Garden," she groans. "It lasted for about a day. I bet I'm not even on their computers anymore." The star of the upcoming Bridget Jones' Diary recalls that she wanted to be a waitress at the popular Italian restaurant chain but had to start as the greeter or, as Zellweger calls it, "the door person. I had to say, 'Hello, welcome to the Olive Garden,' and, "Thank you for coming to the Olive Garden.' "And there's a way to open the door," she adds. "You open it with the one hand, to let people in, and then you open it with the other hand to let people out. And I had no skin on the back of my hand by the end of the night. And I'm like, 'This isn't going to work out!' And that was the end of that." Zellweger ? who, with the help of boyfriend Jim Carrey, could

Fri, Oct 6, 2000

Big Brother Stud Bares All

Big Brother's hunky runner-up Josh Souza wants to make it clear he is not an exhibitionist. The 22-year-old student  who spent much of his 88 days in captivity wearing nothing from the waist up  tells TV Guide Online that he, well, just didn't pack much clothing. "We were in California... it was warm. I said, 'Why dress up every day and wear lots of clothes?," says Souza, who last Friday walked away from the CBS reality show $100,000 richer. "I was just [planning] to jump in the pool and take a shower and lift weights and work out, and that's what I did. So I didn't need lots of clothes, to be honest with you. "I wasn't going out there to try to say, 'Look at me! Look at me!" he continues. "I was just being myself. But if I came across [as an exhibitionist], so be it; I wasn't aiming for that." Well, CBS execs were no doubt aroused by the peep show. Although ratings for Big Brother didn't come anywhere near Survivor levels,

Thu, Oct 5, 2000

Death on Dawson's Creek?

The grim reaper may pay a visit to one of the residents of Dawson's Creek during the show's fourth season, kicking off tonight on The WB (8 pm/ET). "There are going to be a few surprises and a few unpredictable things that occur," executive producer Paul Stupin tells TV Guide Online. "And I think that people who think they know what's happening are going to be surprised, too." Might Stupin be referring to rampant rumors that castmember Meredith Monroe (Andie) will exit after a handful of episodes? Could she be the intended victim? "That's something I don't want to talk about," he says. "I don't want to let too much out of the bag. What I will say is that within the first month of the series, some of our main characters are going to find themselves in mortal jeopardy." Well, that'll happen when you steer your boat into the middle of a tempest, as Pacey (Joshua Jackson) does in the show's Oct. 18 episode, inspired by The Perfect Storm. Natur

Wed, Oct 4, 2000

Big Brother Winner Loses Girl

Eddie McGee may have walked out of the Big Brother compound Friday night $500,000 richer, but, in the long run, the CBS reality show may have cost him something bigger: his girlfriend. The 21-year-old New Yorker  who outlasted nine other contestants to win the grand prize  is on the verge of breaking up with his main squeeze, Monica, over his rumored fling with housemate Jamie. "I spoke to Monica the night I got out, and from what I understand there were rumors that Jamie and I had a thing going on in the house," McGee tells TV Guide Online. "Monica's a wonderful girl, but she's a tad-bit jealous, and that didn't go over too well with her. I think she was hurt." For the record, the half-millionaire  who describes being locked up for 88 days as "sexually frustrating"  insists that nothing went on between him and the former beauty queen. "Honestly, I was physically attracted to Jamie when we first arrived at the house," he a

Tue, Oct 3, 2000

Chen Answers Her Critics

As the embattled host of CBS's reality experiment Big Brother, Julie Chen has been on the receiving end of the harshest critical lashing since John Travolta wore his hair in dreadlocks in Battlefield Earth. So it's safe to assume that the Early Show newsreader is relieved the nightmare will come to an end with tonight's finale (8 pm/ET). Well, you know what they say about people who assume... "I would love to continue doing it," Chen tells TV Guide Online of a second Big Brother, which may hit airwaves as early as February. "It was really fun for me. I love live television because it's unscripted and you can have fun with it. You're not interviewing the secretary of defense or a politician, you're interviewing real people with real emotions and [it can get] wild and crazy." CBS has yet to ask Chen to return as Big Brother's big sister  a fact that comes as little surprise to her. "I think if they were to ask me, they wo

Fri, Sep 29, 2000

Unemployed Garth Hits The Street

For the first time in 10 years, former Beverly Hills 90210 heroine Jennie Garth didn't return to work in July with the rest of the TV industry. But that's just one of many ways her life has changed since the Fox drama went off the air last May. "It's really weird... it's settling in a little bit that everyone's back at work and I'm not," she tells TV Guide Online. "But on one hand, it's great. I've been working really hard for 10 years on this one character and this one show and I feel like I definitely deserve a break. So, it felt really good to not be working." Garth  who has a 3 year-old daughter, Luca Bella, with fianc&eacute;/actor Peter Facinelli  adds that she's also "loving the time I get to spend with my family and sort of make my own schedule. I'm just entering into phase-two of the adjustment, which is starting to get excited about new projects. I'm a different kind of actor now, so it's fun... it's definitely a growing

Thu, Sep 28, 2000

Spike Lee No Friend of Girl

Spike Lee is at it again. The outspoken filmmaker recently caught an episode of the new UPN sitcom, Girlfriends, and he can't believe what he saw. "Is that the only thing black women can talk about is getting f--ked," he tells Newsweek of the Kelsey Grammer-produced comedy, described as an urban Sex and the City. "And then the show had black men holding their johnsons and looking into the camera smiling. What white show has white men grabbing their nuts and smiling into the camera? "And why do all the black people have to sing and dance in the opening sequence?" he continues. "The subtext is, 'Lord, we're so happy we on TV." Lee, whose latest film, Bamboozled, satirizes the media's depiction of blacks, says that there's no longer any excuse for African-Americans to degrade themselves on national television. "My people have to wake up and realize what's going on and our responsibility in it," he says. "I mean, back in the day we

Wed, Sep 27, 2000

Dean Cain's Ambiguously Gay Turn

Former Superman Dean Cain has advice for closeted gay actors working in Hollywood: If anyone asks, don't tell  at least if you value your career. "I think [it's] difficult for an actor who is gay to openly say that they are gay, because I think that it will absolutely hurt their career," Cain tells TV Guide Online. "It will hurt their career horribly because they won't get offered the same roles. "Anne Heche is a great example," continues the former star of ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, who next plays a gay stud in the romantic comedy The Broken Hearts Club (opening Friday). "I think people watched Six Days Seven Nights saying, 'Oh, she's gay. I don't see the chemistry [with co-star Harrison Ford]. She's gay.' Rupert Everett... he played the [gay] guy in My Best Friend's Wedding and Christopher Marlowe [in Shakespeare in Love]  who is sexually ambiguous anyw

Wed, Sep 27, 2000

Is Willow's Lesbian Lover Evil?

Dr. Laura may become a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer after hearing this. During November sweeps, the big secret being kept by Willow's (Alyson Hannigan) lesbian gal pal Tara (Amber Benson) will be revealed  and, according to co-executive producer Marti Noxon, there's a "very strong possibility" she could be a demon the likes of which Sunnydale has never seen. "There definitely is a secret and we're going to explore what that is in episode 6, which [Buffy creator] Joss Whedon is directing and writing as we speak," reveals Noxon, adding that fans of the good witch "should be" concerned. If Tara does turn out to be playing for the other team (the bad guys, that is), it may bring an end to one of TV's sweetest  albeit most unconventional  romances. As it is, nervous WB execs have already given Noxon and her fellow producers "some strong directions" as to how much same-gender lovin' they can show. "I think

Tue, Sep 26, 2000

Dracula Bites the Dust on Buffy

Not since Sue dug her fangs into Kelly in the middle of the South China Sea have audiences been so excited about a small-screen showdown. On tonight's fifth season premiere of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (8 pm/ET), The Chosen One (Sarah Michelle Gellar) comes face-to-face with the granddaddy of all vamps: Dracula. But don't expect the Transylvanian count  played by Gellar's onetime All My Children leading man, Rudolf Martin  to go coffin-hunting in Sunnydale anytime soon; Buffy's ultimate foe will fly away after the first episode. "He's just a guest star, and as of now, he is not coming back," co-executive producer Marti Noxon tells TV Guide Online. "But you never know. [Rudolf] is a wonderful presence." Noxon adds that Dracula's exit will pave the way for the arrival of two new villains in coming weeks. "They will be in the vein of "The Mayor" and "The Master" and different than any other foe Buffy's encountered so far. It's a woman

Tue, Sep 26, 2000

Buffy Baddie Finally Gets Regular

As TV Guide Online previously reported, after two years of semi-regular appearances as demon Anya on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Emma Caulfield finally becomes a full-fledged regular this season. Now, series creator Joss Whedon reveals why he waited so long to promote the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum. "Making someone a regular is not something that we take lightly," Whedon tells TV Guide Online. "Somebody can do really well, but it's a question of, 'How do they fit into the group dynamic? What need do they fill?' It's a delicate thing." In the case of Caulfield  who relents, "everything happens at its own pace"  Whedon eventually saw that she was just the person to fill the wiseacre void left when Charisma Carpenter's Cordelia jumped to Angel. "She speaks her mind rather bluntly and feels a little bit on the outs with people, so it makes perfect sense," he says. "And Emma's extremely funny. You don't usually get that much fu

Fri, Sep 22, 2000

The Boss Bias

Former Who's the Boss? child star Danny Pintauro admits that when it comes to finding work in Hollywood, being openly gay is the least of his problems. The now 24-year-old actor reveals that he's paid a bigger price for his eight years on the hit ABC sitcom. "There have been more consequences with being Jonathan Bower than there have been for being gay," Pintauro says in the new issue of The Advocate. "Casting directors still think of me as that kid on Who's the Boss? I'll hear that 100 times before I'll here 'You're too gay' or 'You're too out.'" Well, Pintauro  who three years ago was forced out of the closet by The National Enquirer  is taking great pains to show people that he's much more than Judith Light's TV offspring. Later this month, he'll reprise his off-off-Broadway role of a teen male hustler for a mini-tour of the play The Velocity of Gary (Not His Real Name). "If I'm going to have an a

Mon, Sep 18, 2000

Charlotte Ross Talks Dirty

What's the best perk of working on a cable series? Getting to curse like a truck driver, natch. Just ask Charlotte Ross, who stars as trash-talking viper Lori Volpone on Showtime's biting showbiz satire Beggars and Choosers. "Having the freedom to swear is great because it frees me up to ad-lib," Ross tells TV Guide Online. "My character's angry a lot and as an actor you're usually like, 'Oh god, I can't let it really go because I might slip a damn in there or a f--- in there.' "If I had to tailor-make Lori for NBC it would be hard for me," she continues. "I would have to be really careful because without that freedom it would probably really throw me." But the star of such short-lived TV fare as The Heights, Pauly, Trinity and The Five Mrs. Buchanans admits that she draws the racy content line at nudity. In fact, Ross has a clause in her contract restricting what can and cannot be shown. "It's just not somethi

Mon, Sep 18, 2000

Danny Passes Straight Acting Test

Danny Roberts, best known as the swoon-worthy gay guy from MTV's The Real World, makes his acting debut on the Oct. 4 season premiere of Dawson's Creek. But contrary to widespread assumption, he will not be a love interest for Kerr Smith, who plays the show's token homosexual. "Everyone just figures that that's the case," the aspiring actor tells TV Guide Online. "I've had people ask me, 'What's it like kissing Kerr?' And I'm like, 'Actually, I didn't." Still, the 22-year-old Georgia native did manage to score a little nookie on the set. But the object of his affection packed two X chromosomes. In the episode, Roberts plays John-John, a prankster who attempts to win over Andie (Meredith Monroe) by pretending to be French. "Eventually it's revealed that I have a crush on her," he explains, "and we have a little kissing scene." And if Roberts has it his way, he'll be making out with lots more girls in the near

Fri, Sep 15, 2000

West Wing Soars at Emmys

It was a landslide victory the likes of which Emmy has never seen before. NBCs acclaimed White House drama, The West Wing, parlayed its 18 Emmy nominations into nine trophies at the 52nd Annual Prime-Time Emmy Awards, broadcast live on ABC last night. It was the biggest single-year haul of any show in history, besting previous record-holders Hill Street Blues and ER, which tied with eight wins apiece. "To sum it up, this is really a very good date night for us," commented Thomas Schlamme, who won for directing the West Wing pilot. The show also won for supporting actress Allison Janney, supporting actor Richard Schiff and writing. On the comedy side, NBCs gay farce Will & Grace was the big winner, taking home top comedy honors as well as wins for its scene-stealing sidekicks, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally. In accepting the award, show co-creator Max Mutchnick clutched the Emmy and exclai

Mon, Sep 11, 2000

VMAs Name Eminem 'Flavor of the Moment'

The big story coming out of this year's MTV Music Video Awards wasn't 'N Sync topping the list of winners with three awards. It also wasn't controversial rapper Eminem capturing the night's top prize, Best Video of the Year. In fact, even a surprise appearance by embattled pop diva Whitney Houston didn't cut it as the night's most buzz-worthy event. So, what was the highlight? Co-host Marlon Wayans said it best: "The white dude stuck upstairs." Wayans was referring to the stunt pulled by Rage Against the Machine bassist Timmy Commerford, who climbed up a stage prop during Limp Bizkit's acceptance speech for Best Rock Video bringing the show to a standstill and forcing police onto the scene. "That was the craziest thing I have ever experienced almost in my life," admitted Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst. "He was just up there going, 'We played for you MTV, we came here and played for you.' I don't know what he was sa

Fri, Sep 8, 2000

Zellweger Warms Up to Men

Ren&eacute;e Zellweger wasn't always a big fan of her Nurse Betty director, Neil LaBute. The Jerry Maguire actress admits that after seeing his first feature, 1997's In the Company of Men, she felt nothing but disdain for the misogynist. "I was livid," Zellweger says of Men, about two yuppies who get their kicks by dating and dumping women. "I was pissed off that somebody would make a film about this, that these characters were hateful as they were, that they were so cruel." However, after cooling her jets, the future star of Bridget Jones' Diary suddenly had a change of heart. "About halfway home I understood: Well, that's what the point was," Zellweger recalls. "He was telling a story with a lot of irony and honesty, and the intention was to make you feel like that about the situation." Zellweger, most recently seen opposite real-life beau Jim Carrey in the box-office disappointment Me, Myself and Irene

Fri, Sep 8, 2000

Rock on Raunch

Miramax may want to put a rush order on Scary Movie 2. Comedian Chris Rock predicts that Hollywood's current love affair with sleaze and raunch may have, um, climaxed. "I think there's going to be a backlash on the whole gross-out thing," suggests Rock, who rips off a man's scalp in the dark comedy Nurse Betty, opening Friday. "It will be interesting to see where it goes because the audience grows up, and they're going to want to laugh just as hard at clean stuff or at more mature situations." But, as Rock points out, there's a reason an increasing number of entertainers are taking the low road. "When you do gross-out humor, you don't have to be good. It's just like when I tell dirty jokes. The dirty jokes I can tell drunk  the clean jokes take a precision. It's like landing the space shuttle: You can end up on the pad or in the water." Rock has been perfecting that delicate balance on his popular HBO series, currently in its fifth season. And

Thu, Sep 7, 2000

Kinnear Sick of Soup

Don't expect Greg Kinnear to serve as honorary guest host of Talk Soup anytime soon. The Oscar-nominated actor  who piloted the E! clipfest for four years before succeeding Bob Costas on NBC's Later  admits that his talking-head days are over. "I had seen my last episode of Jerry Springer that I cared to see," admits Kinnear, who stars as an arrogant soap star being stalked by Ren&eacute;e Zellweger in the dark comedy Nurse Betty, opening Friday. But Kinnear isn't about to knock the very gig that launched his career; he knows full well that in La-la land, you do whatever it takes to get noticed  even if that means talking to a hand puppet named Se&ntilde;or Sock. "It's a miracle if you can get a job in this town," he says. "[So you] do whatever you can  scratch, bite, claw, steal... that's what I did." Not that Hollywood needs any reminders. As Kinnear points out, it took a breakthrough per

Wed, Sep 6, 2000

Will Oscar Go Psycho Over Bale?

Christian Bale's dark and twisted turn as murdering Wall Street yuppie Patrick Bateman in American Psycho was praised by film critics as a star-making performance, and led to talk of a possible Oscar nomination. But the Little Women actor admits that he holds out little hope that the Academy will recognize the sexy satire when nominations are announced in February. "I think American Psycho might be pushing it a little too far for the [Academy]," Bale tells TV Guide Online. "But I haven't put a lot of thought into it... I'd be surprised, but obviously I would be happy." Well, Oscar voters who missed American Psycho during its brief theatrical run earlier this year are in luck: The film is released on VHS and DVD today. What's more, the unrated version will feature the controversial three-way escapade between Bale's character and two prostitutes that director Mary Harron shortened to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating. But one of P

Tue, Sep 5, 2000

Celebs Wild at Heart

Although Jennie Garth has long been involved with animal causes, the former Beverly Hills, 90210 star stops just short of calling herself a sign-carrying activist. "I don't really use the activist word when describing myself," she tells TV Guide Online. "I feel that I have a definite position on how I feel about things, but I'm not going out there picketing and getting arrested. I definitely try to contribute though." Garth's latest act of compassion involves the organization Stars in the Wild, which aims to bring awareness to endangered or at-risk species around the globe. The company has released via its website a line of eight hugable stuffed animals that are part educational tool, part interactive experience, and, well, part too gosh darn cute for words. The dolls  each one "adopted" by such animal-friendly celebs as Garth, 'N Sync, Cindy Crawford and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen

Mon, Sep 4, 2000